The Convenience of White-Collar Crime in Business

This book outlines the theory of convenience for white-collar crime to explain what motivates and enables offenders, providing a unique focus on white-collar crime in the business context. The theory of convenience suggests that the extent to which elite members commit and conceal economic crime is dependent on their extent of orientation towards convenience in problematic and attractive situations. Chapters are organized along the main theoretical dimensions of economical motive, organizational opportunity, and personal willingness. In addition, this book: Addresses a business audience by focusing on themes familiar to corporations Documents attitudes towards white-collar crime among business students and future business leaders Analyzes how convenience orientation varies among individuals Analyzes autobiographies of convicted white-collar offenders Demonstrates the various ways in which white-collar crime occurs The Convenience of White-Collar Crime in Business contributes to an increased understanding of white-collar crime, offering valuable insight in business education that supplements the traditional roles of topics like auditing and compliance in education and practice. It is a useful resource for researchers and law enforcement, and those involved in the detection, prosecution, and conviction of white-collar offenders. Introduction 5 References 8 Contents 9 About the Author 13 Chapter 1: Convenience Orientation 14 Different Concepts of Convenience 14 Elements in Convenience Orientation 16 Determinants of Convenience Orientation 18 Development of Convenience Theory 19 Theory of White-Collar Convenience 24 References 27 Chapter 2: Economical Motive 30 Attractive Individual Economic Possibilities 31 Painful Individual Economic Threats 34 Attractive Corporate Economic Possibilities 37 Painful Corporate Economic Threats 40 Rational Self-Interest Motivation 42 References 45 Chapter 3: Organizational Opportunity 48 High Social Status in Privileged Positions 49 Legitimate Access to Crime Resources 52 Disorganized Institutional Deterioration 55 Lack of Oversight and Guardianship 60 Criminal Market Structures 64 Interactions Between Crime Enablers 65 References 66 Chapter 4: Personal Willingness 72 The Innocent Justification Offender Mind 73 The Deviant Personality Offender Mind 77 The Rational Choice Offender Mind 78 The Slippery Absent Offender Mind 82 References 85 Chapter 5: Convenience Triangle 88 Summary of Perspectives in Convenience Theory 90 Interactions Between Convenience Factors 90 Causal Convenience Triangle Relationships 92 Theoretical White-Collar Criminogenity 93 Theoretical Convenience Triangle Interactions 95 Sample Convenience Hypotheses Method 99 References 103 Chapter 6: White-Collar Crime 106 Offender-Based White-Collar Perspective 107 Theoretical Foundation by Sutherland 109 White-Collar Elite Shadow Economy 111 Seriousness of White-Collar Elite Crime 117 Typical Profile of a White-Collar Offender 118 White-Collar Offenders’ Autobiographies 121 Offender or Victim in White-Collar Crime 124 Autobiography by a Chairman of the Board 128 Financial Motive 128 Organizational Opportunity 129 Deviant Behavior 130 Discussion 133 References 135 Chapter 7: Historical Evolution 141 Convenience Orientation 142 White-Collar Convenience 143 Financial Motive 145 Organizational Opportunity 146 Personal Willingness 148 Historical Perspectives 149 Evaluation Criteria 150 Economical Dimension 151 Organizational Dimension 152 Behavioral Dimension 155 References 157 Chapter 8: White-Collar Convenience 162 Six Convenience Triangle Case Studies 163 Case 1: Motive on Opportunity 163 Case 2: Opportunity on Motive 164 Case 3: Motive on Willingness 165 Case 4: Willingness on Motive 166 Case 5: Opportunity on Willingness 167 Case 6: Willingness on Opportunity 168 Testing Convenience Hypotheses Findings 170 Determinants of White-Collar Crime Intention 173 Trust and Concern about White-Collar Offenses 178 White-Collar Coping with Imprisonment 187 Stage Model for Female White-Collar Offenders 195 Stage 1: From Population Fraction to Needs Fraction 196 Stage 2: From Needs Fraction to Crime Fraction 197 Stage 3: From Crime Fraction to Detection Fraction 198 Stage 4: From Detection Fraction to Sentence Fraction 198 Stage 5: From Sentence Fraction to Prison Fraction 199 Research Method 199 Research Results 200 References 205 Chapter 9: White-Collar Research 210 Research Claims for Financial Motive 211 Individual Economic Benefits 211 Individual Economic Threats 212 Organizational Economic Benefits 213 Organizational Economic Threats 213 Rational Self-Interest 214 Research Claims for Organizational Opportunity 215 High Social Status 215 Access to Resources 216 Institutional Deterioration 217 Inefficient Overview and Control 218 Research Claims for Personal Willingness 219 No Guilty Mind 219 Deviant Personality 221 Rational Choice 222 Slippery Slope 223 Support from Business School Students 224 Empirical Study of Whistleblowing Intentions 226 Whistleblowing by Business School Students 230 Research Method 231 Research Results 232 Discussion 234 Conclusion 236 Suspecting the Boss of White-Collar Crime 236 Theoretical Review 237 Research Method 238 Research Results 240 Conclusion 241 References 242 Chapter 10: Whistleblower Case 250 Crime Signal Detection Theory 251 Crime Signal Research Model 253 Signal Detection by Observer 254 Signal Registration by Observer 254 Signal Interpretation by Whistleblower 254 Signal Reception by Responsible 255 Signal Knowledge by Responsible 255 Reliability and Importance 255 Whistleblower Skog Case Study 255 Case Study Research Method 256 Case Study Research Results 257 Stage 1: Signal Detection by Observer 257 Stage 2: Signal Registration by Observer 257 Stage 3: Signal Interpretation by Whistleblower 257 Stage 4: Signal Reception by Responsible 258 Stage 5: Signal Knowledge by Responsible 258 Case Study Research Discussion 259 References 260 Chapter 11: Fraud Examination Reports 262 Split Convenience Dimensions 263 Research Method of Reports 264 Research Findings from Reports 265 Discussion of Findings 267 130 Fraud Examination Reports 268 References 275 Conclusion 277 References 280 Index 297